BEN’S LOCKY BREAK Lack of action drove me crazy admits Stokes

BEN STOKES admits the return of Test cricket has come just in the nick of time.

A quick rewind back to 2019 tells you that Stokes is at his best in the white heat of international competition.

So to have it taken away for so long has not been easy for him.

But with less than a month to go until the first Test against West Indies, Stokes has got the competitive juices flowing again, helped by training alongside Mark Wood in Durham.

“It is fair to say I’m excited,” said Stokes. “It has been three long months without being able to do the thing I love and I’ve really missed it.

“I’ve missed the dressing room and the people I work with, I’ve missed the competition. My goodness I’ve missed the competition.

“Even my wife mentioned to me the other day how she could tell I was struggling without it. She said, ‘You need to get back out there, don’t you?’ Too right!

“It was great to start training with Mark Wood up in Durham. To begin with it felt as though Woody was topping 100 miles per hour.

“Everything just felt so fast because you haven’t been used to it.”

The world-class all-rounder has also opened up on his motivation struggles during lockdown when it seemed as though there might not be any cricket at all this summer.

He might have kept his body fit and functioning but, with no cricket to prepare for, he admitted turning his back on things in frustration.

“Even though I’ve been training hard physically and have kept in good shape, lockdown sailing,” he added.

“My motivation has gone up and down and there have been times when it has been really hard to even think about playing.

“I’ve had periods where I’ve gone for days without doing a thing. I’ve thought, ‘What’s the point?’

“As an athlete you are so used to getting yourself ready for the next thing, but when there is nothing lined up ahead of you, as was the case, then you need to find motivation somewhere else and that isn’t always easy.

“The great thing now is that I have a target, I know that cricket is nearly here and I cannot wait to get back out there and have the first – possibly socially distanced – huddle on the field.”

There is even a chance that, as vicecaptain, Stokes could be leading that huddle if Joe Root ends up missing the game for the birth of his second child.

“I’m the Scottie Pippen to Joe’s Michael Jordan,” he added.

“It is his team and this is why you have a vice-captain. What would be the point of asking me to do the job if not for this kind of situation?

“Captaining your country is a huge honour, but, if required, I’m simply a stand-in. I’m just here to keep the seat warm and hand things back to him as he left them.”

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ENGLAND batsman Vikram Solanki has been named Surrey head coach with immediate effect. He replaces Aussie Michael Di Venuto, who was told his contract would not be renewed at the end of the season and is now staying Down Under. hasn’t been plain

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TEAMING UP: Ben Stokes has been training with mate Mark Wood and (above) with wife Clare